RUSSIA: Pro-Kremlin protesters demand freedom for activist detained in Estonia

Supporters of the pro-Kremlin youth movement Nashi protest outside the offices of the European Union mission in Moscow, demanding the EU pressure Estonia to free a Nashi activist arrested in Tallinn. Some 500 supporters of the pro-Kremlin youth movement "Nashi" staged a protest outside the offices of the European Union mission in Moscow on Friday (May 4), calling on Brussels to pressure Estonia to free a Nashi activist detained in Tallinn last week. Protesters carried placards with photographs of Nashi activist Marc Syrik, reportedly by police detained in Tallinn, following two nights of rioting in the Estonian capital over the removal of a Soviet World War Two memorial. "Marc Syrik was going to school and was arrested because he is an activist from the "Nashi" movement and was working for closer cooperation between Russian and Estonian people," said Nashi leader Vasily Yakemenko. "It is for this reason that he is in prison. We want to have answers as to when the student, a political prisoner will be released, and when and if any charges will be presented against him. Today he is being accused of plotting against the state, organising acts of vandalism, and mass disorder, and he may face six years in prison. We want to understand whether Europe really doesn't know that they are holding a student as a political prisoner, or are they trying to cover this up. They will not be able to do this," said Yakemenko. Estonia's removal of the bronze statue of a World War Two Red Army soldier from a spot in its capital city to a military cemetery sparked riots from local Russian-speaking youths, a blockade of its embassy in Moscow and official fury from Russia. Russia, which views the statue as a symbol of its sacrifices in World War Two against Nazi Germany, wanted it left untouched. In contrast many Estonians see the monument as a reminder of nearly 50 years of Soviet rule. Estonia's ambassador to Russia flew out of Moscow on Thursday for two weeks leave, calming a diplomatic crisis sparked by the removal of the Communist-era war memorial. Nashi on Thursday called off its week-long, and at times violent, protests at Estonia's embassy in Moscow, which the European Union and NATO had criticised. Estonia got expressions of support from the European Union, NATO and the United States during the dispute, particularly over the protests at its Moscow embassy.

ITN Source | May 5, 2007

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